Make it
your own.

Open the Library.

Before adding anything, see what you already have. The app comes with over seventy modules: Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries, lexicons, books and devotionals, all free to use.

1. Press ⌘7, or click Library in the sidebar.
2. Each Bible is listed with its features, such as Strong's numbers or the words of Jesus in red, and its licence.
3. Click the ⓘ beside a module for its description and where it came from.
4. In picker chooses which Bibles are in the Bible menu. Turn off the ones you never read.
5. Looking for something? Type in the box at the top, such as Strong, to list only what matches.

Order your commentaries.

Everyone has a commentator they reach for first. Put yours at the top, and the study pane opens on him.

1. In the Library, scroll down to Commentaries.
2. Use the up and down arrows beside a commentary to move it. The first in the list comes first in the study pane.
3. Do the same with Dictionaries, for the Dictionary tab.
4. Up in Bibles, Default sets the Bible the app opens with.

Add modules.

The app reads e‑Sword X's Mac formats, so modules made for it work here too. e‑Sword's modules may not be shared, so download your own copy of each one your friend recommended.

1. Open e‑Sword X and download the modules your friend recommended from its Download window. With Read e‑Sword X on (step 4), they appear here by themselves, so you can skip the rest of this step. For a module you've downloaded as a file from elsewhere, carry on.
2. Download the Mac versions of the modules your friend recommended: the files listed below. e‑Sword for Windows' own modules won't open in this app, even on Windows.
3. In the Library, click Show in FinderFile Explorer. Your modules folder opens.
4. Copy the module files into it: not into a folder inside it. These are the kinds it reads:
   .bbli Bibles .cmti commentaries .dcti dictionaries .lexi lexicons .refi books .devi devotionals
5. Back in the Library, click Rescan. The new modules appear in the Library and the menus.

e‑Sword's library.

Find more.

There are many good books on the Scriptures, free to read. The guide lists some of the best.

1. Read Free modules worth having: Greek and Hebrew Bibles with Strong's numbers, commentaries such as Vincent's Word Studies, and books such as Edersheim and Spurgeon's sermons.
2. Some texts aren't e‑Sword downloads: the Babylonian Talmud, Beza's Greek New Testament of 1598 and others. Building modules says how to make them from free sources.
3. Put a module you've built into your modules folder, and click Rescan.

Where to download more

1. BibleSupport has thousands of free modules made by e‑Sword's users: Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries and books.
2. eStudySource sells high-quality modules of copyrighted works, such as modern translations and commentaries, licensed from their publishers.

Read the classics.

In The Pilgrim's Progress, Christian runs up the highway called Salvation until he comes to a cross, and his burden falls from his back. Bunyan's whole book points to that place.

1. In Read, click Books, beside the Bible menu, and choose The Pilgrim's Progress.
2. The chapters are down the side. Click Part 1: The Third Stage.
3. Click a paragraph. It works just like a verse: highlight it, bookmark it, add a note, listen from there, ask about it or copy it.
4. Click a Bible reference in the book to open it; point at one to read it.

Charts and maps.

Clarence Larkin drew great charts of God's plan through the ages. His chart of the King follows Christ from “In the beginning was the Word” to the kingdom delivered up to God.

A chart

1. From Books, open Dispensational Truth at 12. The King.
2. Click the chart to enlarge it. Scroll, or use two fingers on a trackpad, to zoom; drag to move it.
3. Double-click to fit it again, ← and → go to the chapter's other pictures, and Esc closes it.

A map

1. From Books, open Bible Maps: fifteen maps, from the patriarchs to the seven churches.
2. Open 13. The Journeys of Paul, and follow the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome.
3. Click a place's dot or name for a card of its verses. Point at a verse to read it; click it to open it.

Set up the assistant.

Ask answers your questions from your own commentaries and dictionaries, naming its sources. It runs an AI tool you install and sign in to with your own account: Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity or GitHub Copilot.

Choose a model, and what's sent

1. The menu under any Ask box chooses the model, such as Claude Sonnet or Opus. Your choice becomes the default.
2. Your first question goes with what you're looking at, such as the passage. After that, only what the assistant chooses to read is sent.
3. Turn off Licensed text and no copyrighted module's text is sent: a licensed Bible is swapped for a public-domain one, and licensed books are left out.
4. Include my journal is off until you turn it on.

Make it yours.

You'll spend many hours here with God's word. Make the page easy on your eyes.

1. Press ⌘, for Settings. Appearance is at the top.
2. Choose the Theme (light, dark, or your computer's), a Reading font and the Reading text size.
3. Words of Jesus in red shows the Lord's own words in red, in the Bibles that mark them.
4. Show verses as one per line, or in paragraphs like a printed Bible.